AP - LOS ANGELES — No Madonna kiss. No Michael Jackson cameo. No flying Howard Stern. Not even a Kanye tantrum.

AP - Metallica, "Death Magnetic" (Warner Bros.)

AP - Kimya Dawson and Friends, "Alphabutt" (Almost Gold/Columbia)

AP - Jessica Simpson, "Do You Know" (Epic/Columbia Nashville)

Reuters - Pop star Madonna, once accused by the Vatican of staging one of the most satanic shows in history, dedicated her hit "Like a Virgin" to the pope at a sold-out concert in Rome over the weekend.

E! Online - Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz could find themselves facing another round of twin rumors.

E! Online - The red carpet of the Video Music Awards was its own kind of eye-popping spectacle, but during the show I couldn't take my eyes off Britney Spears. And I wasn't the only one—she had at least two bodyguards watching over her the whole time. At one point a fan tried to approach her, but one of the guys gently told him to beat it.

AP - Chris Brown was tied to two of the hottest women at the MTV Video Music Awards: Rihanna and Britney Spears.

AP - They cheered, they cried and gave the show a standing ovation even before the first note was sung.

AP - Russell Brand seemed a little out of place as the host at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Reuters - A year after her disastrous comeback attempt at the MTV Video Music Awards, Britney Spears swept the event on Sunday, winning the first three "Moonman" statuettes of her career.

AP - A minute-by-minute account of what went down inside the VMAs: